Sony has revealed that nearly 1 of 3 PlayStation 5 owners never used a PlayStation 4, in a recent financial report.
As reported by Video Games Chronicle, the PlayStation document stated that “nearly 30% of PS5’s MAUs are users who never used PS4, so, with the spread of PS5, the acquisition of new users is progressing”.
Sony also revealed that their specific definition of MAUs, or monthly active users, are “an estimated total number of unique accounts that played games or used services on the PlayStation Network during the last month of the quarter.” This definition is relevant because some unique accounts are only made to play games from different regions, or games shared via family accounts. That number may be slightly higher than it should be because of these factors. For what it’s worth, Sony had not shared that these uses for unique accounts were particularly common.
Sony is taking the metric as a sign that they have expanded their user base from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5. It’s a particularly good sign for the company, when one considers that PlayStation 4 was the best-selling console of its generation, close to the top lifetime sales of any video game console.
Sony recently revealed that they had finally dealt with their issues with PlayStation 5 supply, meaning it should now be easy for any consumer to get a console for themselves. This should mean Sony will manage the high demand for the platform and finally catch up to it.
They are certainly not lacking for incentives for people to keep buying the console. In the past two years, Sony has quickly built up a library of must play games, particularly open world games like Spider-Man, God of War: Ragnarok, and Horizon Forbidden West.
And there are even more things driving demand. The recent success of The Last Of Us TV show has actually led to interest in the game. While it’s true that The Last Of Us game is playable in three generations of PlayStation consoles, it’s more likely that that demand will be going to the PlayStation 5 version. Aside from being the latest version, a full remaster that improves on the PlayStation 3 original significantly, consumers are just going to want to play on the newest device.
It certainly points to a bright future for the console, as Sony pushes forward with plans with newly acquired studio Bungie and live service games.
